Blog - Page 29 of 62 - Chewjitsu.net

Back Mount is a Devastating Position for BJJ and MMA

October 18, 2018/in BJJ, Training /by akatbreeziie

What’s the most dominant position in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu? In my humble opinion. I think it’s Back Mount.

Even more so I think the most dominant variation of Back Mount is when we have the person flattened out on their belly with our hooks in. In a fight the person is literally helpless.

And in BJJ whether it’s training in the gym or competitions we can attack aggressively for the choke. In this video I answer a question for Mckenzie who is having trouble finishing from the Belly down back mount.

I show 2 different ways to approach finishing from this devastating position. With both positions I show how to finish the rear choke.

But I also talk about how the position could be used for a fight or match.

If you’re having a similar problem with your Back Mount in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu.

Particularly when you find yourself in the belly down position. Then I hope the video is helpful!

-Chewy –

Sign Up for “Almost Daily” Emails

Free Ebook: https://www.chewjitsu.net/focused-jiu-…

Video Courses and Products: https://www.chewjitsu.net/products

Strong Grip from Full Guard to Control Posture (with Brabo Choke)

October 16, 2018/in BJJ /by akatbreeziie

This Brabo Choke is a fantastic option from the Full Guard in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. The Brabo Grip itself is excellent for posture and Full Guard control. And it leads to numerous sweeps and submissions.

I often show the Brabo grip early on to my White Belts because it’s strength can often be helpful for a newcomer to BJJ who wouldn’t mind a little added control.

In this video I’m not going off a viewer request. Instead, I wanted to simply show you a nice Brazilian Jiujitsu technique that might be useful for your game. As you’ll see in the video:

The Brabo Grip helps to control the posture of your opponent.

I show the basics of how to open up the Gi to achieve the grip. Then discuss how to setup the choke or use it for positional dominance. I hope that the technique helps you with your Full Guard submission game in BJJ.

-Chewy –

Sign Up for “Almost Daily” Emails

Free Ebook: https://www.chewjitsu.net/focused-jiu-…

Video Courses and Products: https://www.chewjitsu.net/products

Smooth Guard Pass to Truck Roll in BJJ (Back Take Combo)

October 14, 2018/in BJJ, Training /by akatbreeziie

Recently, I posted a video of myself and some tough BJJ Black Belts rolling and training before the No Gi Pans.

There were several techniques used in the video that many of you had questions about. So I’ll go through and answer the technique related questions you have about the roll.

It starts with a Double Under Guard Pass variation and then moves into a rolling back take from the, often called, Truck position from 10th Planet.

You may not call it the Truck, but for the sake of the video, it’s what we’ll use. I also share the progression of the move and where it came from. As I originally used the Truck position and the rolling back take from other positions like Mount and Turtle first.

In this video I cover one of the Guard pass, back take combinations I used during the training.

If you were interested in this technique from the previous video, or want a Guard passing back take chain of techniques. Than I hope this video is helpful. Chew on that. 😉

-Chewy –

Sign Up for “Almost Daily” Emails

Free Ebook: https://www.chewjitsu.net/focused-jiu-…

Video Courses and Products: https://www.chewjitsu.net/products

The Danger Of Scouting Out Your Opponents for BJJ Tournaments

October 12, 2018/in Uncategorized /by akatbreeziie

Today we got a question from Brad K. on Youtube and he wonders should you scout out your opponent for BJJ competitions or should you focus on your own gameplan?

And when preparing for a Brazilian Jiu-jitsu tournament does it change from White to Black Belt? It’s different for everyone. But for me, I don’t like scouting out my opponents too much.

First off, as the level of skill increases typically the amount of video footage increases, yet this is not always the case. But mostly Brown and Black belts have more film since they are performing at a higher level and have more people watching.

As I talk about in the video I typically do not like to scout my opponents for various reasons.

When I went to BJJ competitions and focused too much on what my opponent was going to do. I didn’t execute my own game plan effectively. And whenever I competed and didn’t have time to look people up.

I was able to perform much better. I will still glance at my opponent’s if I can, but only a glance. Just enough to know some of the techniques or strategy they may execute.

So if you’re like me. You might find it beneficial to not scout your opponents out too much and simply go in with a focus on your game plan, your techniques and jiu-jitsu abilities. Hope the video is helpful!

-Chewy –

Sign Up for “Almost Daily” Emails

Free Ebook: https://www.chewjitsu.net/focused-jiu-…

Video Courses and Products: https://www.chewjitsu.net/products

Secure Half Guard with Full Guard Submission Threat

October 10, 2018/in BJJ /by akatbreeziie

Recently I was messing around during class and stumbled into a new Half Guard entry from a Full Guard Submission. I end up hitting this same technique multiple times that day.

So as is customary with my BJJ training and techniques now a days. . . I decided to share it with you! This BJJ technique starts off as a basic straight armlock from guard. For me this is one of my favorite full guard submissions.

From there if the person defends it I show how to transition from the full guard to a half guard position. What I like about this transition is that it allows you to adjust while the person is being threatened with a submission attempt.

Going from 1 guard to the next can be problematic sometimes. If you give the person even a little space, they’ll begin to attack and pass. But if you have them on the ropes worrying about their arm.

In this video I show the transition from full guard to half guard by baiting the person.

This makes it easier for you to adjust because they’re focus isn’t on attacking you. It’s about saving their arm. So if you’re a half guard player or you’re looking for a different way to get to half guard. Try this simple setup from full guard.

-Chewy –

Sign Up for “Almost Daily” Emails

Free Ebook: https://www.chewjitsu.net/focused-jiu-…

Video Courses and Products: https://www.chewjitsu.net/products

You can check out the Half Guard Sweeper Series Here:

Why I Almost Quit Doing Youtube Videos

October 4, 2018/in BJJ /by Chewy

Want to know the best way to take something that’s fun and ruin it?

Start taking things too seriously.

It happens so often. We get into something. It’s fun, enjoyable. . . but then. . . we start setting expectations for ourselves, our ego becomes the master instead of the slave.

From my experience this typically goes hand in hand with getting better. Which is weird, as you get better you kind of get worse in some cases.

Great example was in my early stages of BJJ. As I began to get better. My ego became attached to that outcome and it froze me in place. I couldn’t test new moves because I didn’t want to lose. This really hindered my growth in BJJ. And it happened because I took it too seriously for a time and forgot the whole reason I started training.

Because I enjoyed it!

I Almost Quit Doing Youtube Videos

Another example is with the videos I do for you guys.

Originally I started doing them for my students. Then I started getting questions and I had fun answering them.

But then!!!

People started following me and would tell me how much it helped them, and I started having people travel hours away just to train and hang out. And then . . . I became too serious about it.

I started putting pressure on myself. I felt like I had people to help! This pressure made it difficult for me to do videos for several weeks and at one point I almost just quit doing them completely.

Eventually I realized how serious it had become. How stupid of me! I was supposed to be having fun and helping. So I switched it back around and went back to playing around.

And it’s why you continue to see videos on YT and IG.

You’ve Got to PLAY With New Positions and Techniques

And for those of you who have already or plan to jump in on my new Half Guard series. Be sure not to take it too seriously.

Whenever you’re developing new positions and techniques. It’s important to have a fun almost playful mindset. Studies have even shown that we actually learn better in a more relaxed mental state.

And take it from me, being TOO serious about things just leads to frustration. On and off the mats.

And if you’re working on something else besides my techniques, no problem. Take the same advice. PLAY with the new material rather than get too serious and hung up on it.

See you guys in future not so serious videos and blogs. 😉

-Chewy

My BJJ Rut Made My Half Guard Better

October 1, 2018/in BJJ, Inspiration /by Chewy

If you have all peaks with no valleys. You have with flat land.

If you have all letters with no spaces.

Youhavesentencesthatlooklikethis.

The ups are great. But the downs are a necessary part of life. I mean how do you know what up is if you’ve never been down?

When things are coming down as they do for all of us at times. Ride the wave down into the valley and prepare for the next opportunity to climb back up to an even higher peak.

And appreciate that the sour in life allows you to truly value the sweet.

Resisting the Valleys

I wrote this on IG yesterday. And I was getting at the idea of not resisting those times when you’re coming down. It’s something I struggled with when I was younger, hell I still struggle with it sometimes even now.

Because if you try to resist, it prolongs the process and you become stuck. But if you move with the downward slump it will push you right up to the foot of the next mountain you’re supposed to climb.

Turning Point as A Purple Belt

One big turning point in my BJJ came as a result of a downward trend in my game. Early on, I hated losing and hated having any situation where I thought I was “getting worse” or going down instead of up.

This caused me to be pretty good in the beginning as I focused only on a handful of techniques all the time. This direct gameplan gave me a clear road map to follow when I rolled.

But if you stay on the same road forever. You have a pretty limited view of the world. And my view of BJJ when I reached late Blue and Purple Belts was lacking.

Be Willing to Get Worse Before You Get Better

You have to be willing to get worse sometimes before you get better. Things have to be torn down before they can be built back up.

Going back to my peaks and valley analogy. I had been sitting on the edge of the peak resisting going down. As I looked across at the higher mountains in front of me. I wanted to be there. But I was reluctant to make the journey through the dip to get there. This reluctance slowed my progress.

It wasn’t until I was able to accept “getting worse”, going into the valley so to speak, that I was able to get substantially better. It’s like the old saying, “you’ve got to crack an egg to make an omelet.”

This happened following a conversation my coaches had with me as a Purple Belt and following several poor performances at tournaments.

Following this conversation I began to yield.

Instead of resisting the failures and screw ups in training as a negative. I just chose to accept them as part of the process and move with them. The yin and the yang or training. The sweet and the sour. When my mindset shifted, my BJJ game (and life if we are being honest) went through an amazing period of positive change.

It’s also part of what lead me to cling to the Half Guard style Renato showed me in 2008. I was hungry for new information. And this hunger to get out of this slump was what propelled me to an even higher level of skill.

Had I not been in a downward rut. I’m not sure that I would have truly taken in the information Renato showed, and it would have been terrible for my game as Half Guard has become a staple of my BJJ.

As I talked about recently as I launched my Half Guard Sweeper Series. The Half Guard was one of the 1st times I had a reliable bottom position to attack from that I was able to use successful in BJJ competitions.

But I would have never developed this system of sweep and attacks had I not been in a slump looking for new information and ready to receive it.

You can check that series out below.

Move with the Down

We all have frustrating times. And you can allow yourself resist them which means you’ll enjoy a longer stay in the valley, just go with change. Letting yourself look up to an even higher mountain and choose to make the climb.

Sweaty No Gi Rolling in St Louis with 4 Tough Black Belts (Day 1)

September 29, 2018/in Competition, Training /by akatbreeziie

This was a No Gi BJJ training session leading up to the 2018 No Gi Pans. It was a tough one too! I met up with my friends in St Louis at Kyle Watson’s gym to get a hard push during the last 2 weeks of my lead up to the IBJJF tournament.

During the training session you’ll see us start with some Pass / Defend rolling where one person stays in the center of the ring until they are passed.

Afterwards we continue our Brazilian Jiu-jitsu training with some regular rolling . During the rolling you’ll see me pass, sweep and take the back.

You’ll also see me get taken down, passed and swept. The guys I’m rolling with are all tough Brazilian Jiujitsu practitioners. Almost all of them seasoned Black Belts.

So they’re very good. And I had to work hard.

Hence why there is so much butt sweat at the end haha. And I think my training with them definitely helped me win the 2018 No Gi Pans at the Ultra Heavy Master 1 division. Enjoy the video!

-Chewy –

Sign Up for “Almost Daily” Emails

Free Ebook: https://www.chewjitsu.net/focused-jiu-…

Video Courses and Products: https://www.chewjitsu.net/products

Video Courses and Products

This BJJ White Belt Stole My Favorite Choke

September 27, 2018/in Beginners, BJJ /by akatbreeziie

Have you ever not received credit for something when you felt like you should have? Perhaps you helped someone but then never received any recognition. That’s what’s going on in today’s Brazilian Jiu-jitsu video.

Our friend Jay who is a 4 stripe Blue Belt has taken upon himself to help out one of the White Belts in his gym with a Baseball Choke technique he’s developed. And it worked!

The BJJ White Belt took the technique and has been able to hit it several times in tournaments and in training.

So much so, that this White Belt has become synonymous with this choke.

The only problem is that he has never given Jay any credit for the help. Jay knows that he shouldn’t feel upset about this. But he says he’s found that it frustrates him.

In this video I draw some parallels to how I felt as a young Brazilian Jiujitsu coach and Jay’s situation. And I talk about not giving people help in any situation on a conditional basis if you’re really trying to help them.

I also discuss how to turn this negative situation on the mats into a positive by channeling the negative energy into a positive by teaching more people.

But the biggest idea I try to share in this video is that if you take on the role of a teacher or coach in Brazilian Jiujitsu. You need to take joy out of teaching someone. Not getting recognition for it. Finding joy in someone else’s success.

-Chewy-

Sign Up for “Almost Daily” Emails

Free Ebook